Thursday, August 21, 2014

I headed back to Ironman Mont-Tremblant as a defending champion. After knee surgery in Feb I was unsure how it would end up. I had a great block of training and my numbers in swim, bike and run were good and I was content where things were at considering.

What I did not account for was TJ Tollakson putting me well above my power output needed to ride a smooth steady race. I had not wanted to test the knee in the anaerobic zone in fear of it not being ready to respond. It was good to 350watts but the 400+ that TJ was putting out on some sections just took its toll. At around the 3hr mark my knee tightened up and after a chat with the race physio/doctors in T2 we made the choice to stop there to avoid any damage and end back at square one. It was about saving what is left of the season and being able to race the remainder of 2014 in comparison to running and marathon and "hoping" that all would be ok.

This will be the first time since 2002 that I will not have qualified for Kona. Although out of my control it will still be hard to watch. I know I will be back there next year and many more years to come but that does not make it sit any easier. Who would have thought that a swerve of a photographer in Busselton in Dec 2013 would still be haunting me.

Below is a link to the short recap of the Ironman North American Championships in Mont-Tremblant Canada for 2014. Also a few pics from race day.